Over 300 players from around the world converged on Singapore to take part in the second of three Offline Premier events for the Capcom Pro Tour 2023 season. When this many players of the highest skill level compete it’s sure to be exciting and Singapore 2023 had the epic matches, storylines and upsets that make these events such a joy to watch.

In a field that included former Capcom Cup and EVO Champions along with many players at the top of the Street Fighter food chain it’s difficult to predict who would come out on top. When the event got to top 16 the three players most talked about to go the distance were two-time Capcom Cup Champion BANDITS|MenaRD from the Dominican Republic and two Japanese players in GYOGUN|Moke and IBUSHIGIN|Kakeru. Each of these players fell just short, earning third through fifth placements. In Grand Finals it was Japan’s RED BULL|Gachikun taking on Hong Kong’s Chris Wong, with Gachikun ultimately emerging victorious.

Gachikun has been a professional player for years with many placements at high-level events along the way and became Capcom Cup Champion in 2018. Even with these credentials he was still not a favorite to win, which speaks to the level of competition present. Gachikun went on to win the event from the winners side and did it using Rashid, a character he has played since he was first introduced in Street Fighter V. Rashid was the first new character to be added to Street Fighter 6 and Gachikun has shown here that the two can still achieve big things together.

In top 16 the very first matchup was between Gachikun and Moke. Moke’s Chun-Li won the first game, but Gachikun’s Rashid adapted and won two games straight to put Moke in losers. Another highlight match was the winners side match between Kakeru’s JP and MenaRD’s Blanka with Kakeru coming out on top 2-1. DFM|Nauman and SNB|Fujimura, both from Japan, fought a Ken mirror-match that was another standout that went to the final round with Nauman getting the win.

One of the extraordinary storylines of top 16 was China’s BLG|VXBao and his run through losers bracket. He wasn’t put into losers by another player but took an automatic loss in his very first match in pools because he didn’t arrive in time. VXBao and his JP played the entire tournament through the losers bracket until he faced Japan’s CAG|GO1 and his Chun-Li in top 16, where he was eliminated in the last round of the final game.

Kakeru, considered possibly the best JP player in the world, was put into the losers bracket at winners semi-finals by Chris Wong’s Luke. This match was a real war with both players trading momentum. Chris Wong won the set in the final round to get the 3-2 victory. Once in the losers side Kakeru was ultimately eliminated by Moke in losers quarter final to finish in fifth place.

The two-time Capcom Cup Champion MenaRD, after losing to Kakeru earlier, had a hard fight through losers bracket. It started with a very close match against Hong Kong’s TALON|HotDog29. MenaRD started the match using Luke against HotDog29’s Dee Jay and lost the first two games. He switched to Blanka and won three games straight to get the runback win 3-2. He would have another tough game against Nauman in the next round. Despite having four perfect rounds in the set MenaRD survived by the slimmest of margins. Moke would put a stop to MenaRD at losers semi-finals.

After Moke took his first loss to Gachikun in top 16 and was sent to losers he went on a run that ended in sight of Grand Finals. Once in the losers bracket Moke went on to eliminate Fujimura (3-0), Kakeru (3-1) and MenaRD (3-1) before being eliminated himself by Chris Wong in losers final. Two of the three top 16 favorites to win this event were eliminated by Moke, who would finish in third place overall.

Chris Wong shined at Singapore. He put on a standout performance with Luke, which he played with patience and made good decisions. His spacing in neutral should be studied and he wasn’t afraid to fall back from his opponent back into neutral when he felt he wasn’t at an advantage. Chris Wong’s only losses were to Gachikun, who sent Chris Wong to losers 3-0 at winners final and ultimately at Grand Finals.

In Grand Finals Chris Wong looked like a completely different player than the one that lost three straight games to Gachikun in winners final. In the first set Gachikun was mostly on his back foot with Chris Wong pressing the attack. Chris Wong would win the first set with a dominant 3-0 to reset the bracket.

Before the second set Gachikun wisely took a long pause to collect himself and whatever mental adjustments he made were highly successful. The roles completely reversed with Gachikun’s Rashid coming back strong to win three games straight to eliminate Chris Wong and win the event.

Congratulations to RED BULL|Gachikun on his amazing performance at Singapore 2023. Gachikun, Capcom Cup Champion from 2018, now has another chance to win a second Champion title when he competes at Capcom Cup X next year. The third and final Offline Premier for the 2023 season will take place at Paris, France from November 3rd through 5th.

If you missed any of the action, be sure to visit the CAPCOM Fighters YouTube channel where you will find a full recording of the broadcast as well as individual match videos.

Offline Singapore Top 8 Results
Placing	Handle	Characters
1st	RED BULL GACHIKUN	Rashid
2nd	CHRIS WONG	Luke
3rd	GYOGUN MOKE	Chun-Li
4th	BANDITS MENARD	Luke,Blanka
5th	DFM Nauman	Ken
5th	IBUSHIGIN KAKERU	JP
7th	TALON HOTDOG29	Dee Jay
7th	SNB FUJIMURA	Ken

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